August 18 – As the transfer window reaches its end, wallets are beginning to loosen. This week saw the largest deal of the window so far in Moises Caicedo alongside mammoth deals for England captain Harry Kane and Brazil top-scorer Neymar.
Chelsea-bound Ecuadorean starlet Caicedo was the subject of a fierce tug-of-war between his new club and Liverpool, which saw his transfer fee straddle the €100 million mark and rise to a British record €115 million, with the potential to reach €133 million if add-on clauses are reached. Next season he’ll line up alongside Enzo Fernandez, who previously held said record, in what will be the most expensive midfield duo in the history of the sport, totalling over €250 million between them.
Neymar’s transfer to Saudi is a real statement to the superstar quality that the league can draw in. It is the biggest deal of the window for any Saudi side as he looks to line up alongside fellow Brazilian Malcom. Al-Hilal’s acquisition of the duo sees €150 million billed to the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
The Premier League has lost a degree of its star-quality through Bayern Munich’s purchase of England captain Harry Kane as he becomes the second most expensive player over 30 of all time, behind Ronaldo’s transfer to Juventus from Real Madrid and sneaking ahead of Neymar’s headline switch to Al-Hilal from PSG.
Ousmane Dembele has moved to PSG from Barcelona to replace the outgoing Neymar and is the most natural heir to the Brazilian. Joining the Blaugrana as the third most expensive player of all time, Dembele’s time in Catalunya was riddled with injury and he found it difficult to break into the first XI, especially ahead of Leo Messi, who had Dembele’s favoured right-wing position locked-down.
Known around Europe for his fantastic pace, control and dribbling, Dembele is an entertainer and a great edition to an otherwise wilting PSG front line. He’ll join new signing Gonçalo Ramos in the French champions’ attack, likely alongside Kylian Mbappe, whose decision on whether to stay at the club changes like the weather.
The week’s signings are largely centred around repairing gaps in teams. Kepa, Dembele, Lukeba, De Ketelaere, Ward-Prowse and even Kane have all been brought in to fill a role in the team abandoned by recent departures.
Kane is the best possible replacement for Robert Lewandowski, who was a big miss in Bayern’s Bundesliga campaign last year after moving to Barcelona last summer, as the club relied on out-of-form Sadio Mane and rotational player Erik-Maxim Choupo-Moting for goals up front.
Kepa Arrizabalaga fills in for Thibaut Courtois on a season-long loan after the Belgian picked up a serious injury that will rule him out for the majority of the season.
Similarly, Lukeba, Ward-Prowse and Dembele are all expected to replace outgoing star-quality in Josko Gvardiol, Declan Rice and Neymar.
The table below only references players with a market value higher than €15 million according to Transfermarkt.
Last week’s closed deals:
Summer transfer window’s major deals completed:
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1729247100labto1729247100ofdlr1729247100owedi1729247100sni@o1729247100fni1729247100